This week, Tina asks us to consider sites we think of as spiritual. She challenges us to think of spiritual places and writes, “We hope you’ll join us this week to share your thoughts on spirituality and the places where it can be found.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

I know I’ve shared this image before, but it’s the first image I thought of when I started thinking about Tina’s challenge. The sun shining through the clouds is an opening to the heavens. I converted the image to a light sepia tone and tweaked the exposure controls to add even more moodiness using DxO’s Silver Efex 2.

Near Yarnell, Arizona, a shrine is built in the countryside. It was built in 1939 by Felix Lucero, a homeless folk artist who lived under a bridge in Tucson. Lucero was inspired to build the shrine after a vision of Saint Joseph. Composed of wooden markers and concrete statues depicting scenes of the life of Jesus, they lead the visitor up a hill on a winding trail. It is a peaceful and serene place for Christians to reflect on the lives of Jesus and Saint Joseph.

The Linnean House is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture in Saint Louis, Missouri’s Botanical Gardens. It is made of red brick with white trim and has a slate roof. The indoor garden is home to a variety of temperate plants that couldn’t otherwise survive in Missouri’s winter season. The Linnean House is a place for reflection, tranquility, and a connection to nature.

There are not many gothic-style churches in the upper midwestern United States. One beautiful example is the limestone and brick exterior of the Church of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The exterior is decorated with intricate carvings and statues, including a statue of Saint Joseph. On a cloudy day that threatened rain, I stood at the base of the front entrance and captured the gothic-style nave with my Sony RX100M5 camera. In Lightroom Classic, I adjusted the exposure controls to darken the skies and enhance the shadows on the facade.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I love to capture the architecture of classically designed churches. They speak to the devotion of the people who built, paid for, and worshipped in them. I don’t consider myself a “church-goer”, attending actual services only a few times a year. That doesn’t stop me from being inspired by the spirituality of the many houses of God that I have seen in my travels. The Chapel on the Rock was a concept brought to fruition in 1936 by Monsignor Joseph Bosetti, who was inspired by the Biblical phrase “Upon this rock I will build my church”. The chapel is built on a large rock formation that is about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level. Located near Rocky Mountain National Park, the chapel is surrounded by mountains and forests and provides stunning views of the surrounding area.

There are three buildings that compose the campus of the Library of Congress. The design of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress was inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome. That architecture is surely a reflection of the architectural tastes of the time period in which it was built. With all that is going on in our nation’s capital these days, the Library of Congress is a place to find a few moments of tranquility. Visitors may enjoy spending time in the Library’s reading rooms, or they may simply enjoy walking through the Library’s exhibition and program rooms. The library is a place where people can come to connect with their own spirituality or simply find some peace and quiet.

For those who believe that exercise is the way to achieve spirituality, the Stairway of the Five Senses is probably their ultimate achievement. It is a 14th-century staircase with 577 steps, divided into five sections, each representing one of the five senses. The staircase is decorated with statues, fountains, and allegorical reliefs. For those who reach the summit of the stairs, the sanctuary of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart is a place of great spiritual significance and, most likely, a place of rest.

Unknowingly, I captured the essence of a Japanese Garden with this single image captured at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. A treatise (here) on the essential elements of a Japanese Garden describes key concepts in their design. The elements of a Japanese garden, such as rocks, water, plants, and trees, are often used to symbolize spiritual concepts. For example, rocks may symbolize mountains, which are seen as sacred in many Japanese religions. Water may symbolize the flow of life, and plants may symbolize the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

To pixel-peep my gallery for this challenge, check out my Flickr album here. Thanks to Tina for her challenge this week. Next week, it’s Patti’s turn to challenge us. If you’re thinking of joining in the challenges, but need a starting point, look here.

John Steiner